In 1949, former concentration camp inmate and Berlin native Hans Muller, immigrates to Israel where, due to psychological problems, he can't adjust to peacetime life.In 1949, former concentration camp inmate and Berlin native Hans Muller, immigrates to Israel where, due to psychological problems, he can't adjust to peacetime life.In 1949, former concentration camp inmate and Berlin native Hans Muller, immigrates to Israel where, due to psychological problems, he can't adjust to peacetime life.
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Yehoshua Bresler
- (as Joey Walsh)
- Mukhtar
- (scenes deleted)
- Hannah
- (uncredited)
- Refugee
- (uncredited)
- Papa Sander - Susy's Father
- (uncredited)
- Bus Driver
- (uncredited)
- Telephone Girl
- (uncredited)
- Audience Member
- (uncredited)
- Mordecai
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film is based on author Michael Blankfort's novel with the same title. Initially, producer Stanley Kramer wanted author Blankfort to direct the film but Blankfort was refused a passport for travel to Israel by the United States State Department because Blankfort had been a Communist many years earlier. Kramer reassigned the film to director Edward Dmytryk who served almost a year in prison in 1948 after being convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to divulge his political affiliations. After his release from prison, Dmytryk moved to England but returned to the U.S. and gave testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and, as a result, was removed from the film industry blacklist.
- Quotes
Registration Official at Haifa: Name?
Hans Muller: [softly] Hans Muller
Registration Official at Haifa: You have to speak louder
Hans Muller: HANS MULLER's my name
Registration Official at Haifa: A little softer please. Place of birth?
Hans Muller: Germany... Munich... Beautiful city
Registration Official at Haifa: Occupation before the war?
Hans Muller: You wouldn't believe me
Registration Official at Haifa: I'll believe anything
Hans Muller: I was a juggler.
Registration Official at Haifa: What?
Hans Muller: A juggler
[pantomimes juggling balls in the air]
Registration Official at Haifa: We need a juggler like a hole in the head. What can you do besides throwing things up in the air and catching them?
Hans Muller: My dear sir, to say I throw things up in the air and catch them is like saying Shakespeare just wrote words. Would you care to see my scrapbook?
Registration Official at Haifa: No. Show it when you look for a job... if there are any for jugglers
Hans Muller: I'm retired. I havent thrown up anything but bad food in ten years
Registration Official at Haifa: So what else can you do?
Hans Muller: I can wash dishes, sweep barracks, clean toilets. I can also smile while being beaten by fists, feet, straps and long rubber hoses. I can be used as a guinea pig for new drugs and old poisons. All of which we learned as guests of the Nazis.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Dick Cavett Show: Kirk Douglas (1971)
Unfortunately, Kramer had a habit of assigning George Antheil to score his films. Antheil contributes another inappropriate score heavily accenting any melodramatic moment that points up Kirk's anguish, much the way he did in Kramer's NOT AS A STRANGER. It didn't work there and it doesn't work here, especially during the "escape" scene where the music reaches a frenzied fever pitch of discordant notes.
It's hard to fully sympathize with Douglas' tormented character and that is the film's chief handicap. As the man tracking down the fugitive, PAUL STEWART does his usual workmanlike job. Trouble is, there's an almost documentary feel to the story and its pivotal character is never fully fleshed out, remaining somewhat of an enigma despite Douglas' good performance. When romance comes into the story with the entrance of MILLY VITALE, Douglas' character softens a little under her compassionate care.
Some vivid glimpses of Israel, circa 1949, and good location photography gives the story an authentic air, but the story values are never more than ordinary and the total effect is bland.
Worthwhile mainly for Kirk Douglas fans, it fails to make the impact intended as a serious study of a man haunted by prison camp memories.
- How long is The Juggler?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1